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鬼由心生

Mandarin · pinyin guǐ yóu xīn shēng

devils are born in the heart (idiom)
fears originate in the mind

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Characters in this entry

鬼: guǐ · ghost; spirit of dead; devil; Kangxi radical 194; 23rd lunar mansion, determinative star θ Cancri
由: yóu · cause, reason; from
心: xīn · heart; mind, intelligence; soul; 5th lunar mansion, determinative star α Scorpii (Antares)
生: shēng · life, living, lifetime; birth

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

3–2–1–1 · gui3 you2 xin1 sheng1

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Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

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Compare dictionary sources 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

gwai2 jau4 sam1 sang1

Cantonese word readings for 鬼由心生. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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